Arc welding

ABSTRACT

An arc welding electrode for use in welding processes in air; devoid of external flux, and having a mild steel sheath enclosing a core containing by weight of the electrode 1.5-4.5 percent aluminum, 0.3-1.6 percent manganese, 0.0-0.6 percent silicon, 515 percent calcium fluoride, 1-8 percent arc stabilizers of magnesium oxide, alkali or alkaline earth metals, 1-4 percent slag modifiers of alumina, silica, titania, manganese oxide, iron oxide or zirconia, and the remainder iron.

United States Pat'ent I Blake et al.

1541 ARC WELDING [72] v Inventors:

Assignee:

Filed:

Paul Desmond Blake, Bishops Stor tford; 1 Roy Douglas Johnston,

.Braughing Ware; Brian Phelps, Roydon near l-larlow; Edwin Albert I Chapman, Potters Leonard Bartlett, Chestnut, all of Bar; Ronald England Murex Welding Processes Limited, l-Iertfordshire, England Feb, 10,1970

Appl. No.:

Related US. Application Data Division of seiNo; 661,637,1'Aug. 18, 1967,

Pat. No. 3,573,426. I

Foreign ApplicationPriority April '10, 19671 Oct. 31, 1966 Great Britain....,.,....48,640/66 Nov. 1, 1966 Great Britain ..48,972/66 Nov. 8, 1966 Great Britain ..49,927/66 'March 15, 1967 'Great Britain ..l2,l86/67 March 23, 1967 Great Britain ..l3,776/67 a April5, 1967 Great Britain ..15,578/67 April 5, 1967 Great Britain ..15,579/67 Great Britain ,.l6,380/67 [451 I Nov,'7, 1 972- 52 US. Cl. ..".,2"19/146 117/206, 219/137 [51 1111.01, .i ..B23k35/22 .[581 Field 0tSearch 2l9/l46, 145; 117/205,'206,

[ i References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS I 3,177,340 4/1965 Danhien ....2l9/l46 2,909,778 10/1959 Landis et al, .Q2l9/146 3,461,270 8/1969 Patton ..-...'..l48/24 X 3,466,417

9/1969 Chapman et al. ..219/146 X Primary Examiner-J. V. Truhe I Assistant Examiner-George A. Montanye Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [5 7] ABSTRACT An arc welding electrode for use in weldingprocesses in air; devoid of external flux, and having a mild steel sheath enclosing a core containing by weight of the electrode 1.5-4.5 percent aluminum, 0.3-1.6 percent manganese, 0.0-0.6 percentsilicon, 5-15 percent calciumfluoride, 1-8 percent are stabilizers of magnesium oxide, alkali or alkaline earth metals, 14 percent slag modifiers of alumina, silica, titania, manganese oxide, iron oxide or zirconia, and the remainder iron.

4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PK1NTEi1unv1mz v I v 3.703.390

0c. M? D/A/G 4 0mm? RONALD LEONARD BARTLETT- i recent years PARC WELDING This application is a division of my copendingapplication, Ser. No,,66l',637, filed Aug. 18, -l 967 now US.

Pat.No.3,573,426. e 1 v it has long been the practice to use'for automatic and semi-automatic arc welding continuous electrodes which are devoid of an external flux coating in conjunction with a submergedarc flux or a shielding-gas and in widespread use has been made of carbon dioxide as the shielding gas. An important functionofthe metalof atmospherieoxygen and nitrogen. The use of a submerged arc flux, however, prevents observation'of the weld metal: by the operator, while" the use of a shielding gas is costly: and requirescumbe'rsome equip- ,ment. It has been proposed to avoid the necessity for external shielding of the'weld metal by the use of a tubular electrode, consisting of a mildsteel sheath'having no external flux coating but having a core containing,

a 5 I J Proportions throughout the Specification are proportions by weight and the mechanical properties of weld metal are those ob'tainedeby tests in accordance-with the mechanical test procedure of 3.8.8. 639, i964.

Electrodes for carrying out the process according to theinvention have amild steel sheath, which may be v q l0 submerged arc'fluxand of the shielding gas has been todeny access to the weld formed from either rimming steel strip containing less 7 than 0 .l2 percent carbon, 0.2-0.6 percent manganese,

less than 0.05 percent silicon, 7 less than 0.04 percent sulphur'andless than 0.04'percent phosphorus, or from killed or semi-killed stripwith up to 0.3' percent silicon,

I up to 0.15 percentcarbon, up-to 1.8 percent manganese, less than 0.04 percent sulphur and".'less :than

deoxidizing elements, for example manganese, aluminum and silicon, and also elements, such as aluto 'form nitrides. Tubular electrodes of this kind as hitherto proposed have not, however, been capable of producing s'ound weld metal having the high ductility and good impact strength characteristic of the mild minum which are'capableof combining-with nitrogen steel weld metal produced by good quality automatic electrodes used with a shielding medium.

The invention, in its broadest aspect, is based'upon our discovery that sound weld metal appropriate for welding mild steel workpieces and having such satisfactoryphysical properties can be produced by the use of a baremild steel tubular arc welding electrode, containing deoxidizers and nitrogen-fixing elements in its core, without shielding of the-arcby gas on submerged arc flux providedthat the electrode is so formulated and the arc is drawn under conditions such that the contents of carbon, aluminum, manganese, silicon and titanium in the weld; metal are maintained within t in 85.8. 639, 1964, the weld metal beingof the following composition by weight:

aluminum 0.05 1.3% manganese 0.3 2 silicon 0.1 l carbon 0.l2% max. titanium 0.12% maxhif the silicon content exceeds 0.35% and i 0.25% max. if the silicon content is 0.35%or less 7 I balance iron apart from incidental llll'l ksiu The incidental impurities include sulphurand phosphorus and may-include zirconium in an amount notexceeding 0.05 percent by weight.:

Preferably the weld metal contains 0.12 0.8 percentaluminum, 0.7' L75 percent manganese, 0.4

0.85 percent silicon and a maximum carbon content of 0.08 percent.

- 0,04'percent phosphorous."

The aluminum content of [the electrode, which is present in the core, rnay -be metallic aluminium or ferro-alurninum and the, core will normally contain both manganese and silicon, as such or as ferro-alloys or-present as compounds, such asmanganese oxide or silica, which will be reduced by-aluminum to elementary form when the electrode is used forwelding. The electrodes also containinthe core sufficient calcium fluoride, or of a balanced mixture of other fluorides of alkali oralkaline earth metals to ensure regular burnoff of thetip of the electrode and satisfactory spreading and wetting qualities of the slag and weld metal in order to ensure absence of significant porosity in the weld metal.

In general electrodes according to the'invention may be manufactured by bending a mildsteel strip, of width 0.6 inch and thickness 0.025 inch, into a U-shaped channel measuring 0.2 inch across its mouth, introducing the core material into the channel, closing the channeland drawing it down to a diameter between three sixty-fourths and one-eighth inch. in ordertoremove moisture and drawing soap the' resulting tube should be baked in air at 250300 Cfor-30 to minutes andit maythen'be coiled on spools. As an alternative, and if it is desired to reduce the springiness of the coils, the tube may instead be baked at 450 C in an atmosphere of nitrogen. a I 1 These electrodes fall into various categories, which will now be described in detail. 1 f

t CATEGORY 1 Electrodes of this categoryicontain in the core metal powders or wires in amounts such that the electrode as a whole contains 0.8 2.5 percent aluminum, 0.01 1 percent titanium, 0.05 -l.5 percent silicon and 0.4 1.5percent manganese; 0.4 a 6 percent of fluorides of alkali or alkaline earth metals and slag forming materials. The aluminum, silicon and manganese act as deoxidizers and, in addition, both the aluminumand silicon reduce nitrogen absorption by the weld pool and fix free nitrogen as nitride. Although titanium increases thenitrogen solubility in the weld pool, it also acts as a nitrogen fixingelement and fixes the nitrogen in the relatively harmless form of titanium carbonitride which does not form a dendriticstructure. Concentrations of titanium-in excess of that just stated-are deleterious to the impact properties and could result in recoveryinto the weld metal of an amount of titanium greaterthan that specifiedabove. The core generally amounts to 2S30percent by weightof the electrode; V

While the electrodes of this category must containat least 0.4 percent of fluorides of alkali and/or alkaline earth metals, which may be present as borofluorides,

silicofluorides ortitanofluorides, some of the fluoride content in excess of 0.4 percent may be replaced by carbonates or titanates of alkali or alkaline earth metals. These ingredients give a stable are, reducing spatter and loss of alloying elements and improving the general ease of operationof the electrode.

' Alumina derived by oxidation from aluminum in the core tends to give an infusible and adherent slag and the slag formers in the core are materials which are capable of forming with this alumina a slag of low melting point. Fluxes based on sodium oxide, and/or potassium oxide together with silica are capable of taking'up alumina up to about 50 percent of their weight while retaining a melting range of 1,3001,500 C. Limited additions of lime and iron oxide help to retain a low melting point. The fluxes may consist of potash-felspar,

which contains approximately 14% K 0, 62% SiO,, 1% Na O and 18% A1 0 or of synthetic fused potassium silicate. Alternatively,*soda felspar containing approximately 11% Na O, 68% SiO and 19% A1 0 or .sodalime'felspar or fused sodium silicate are suitable.

They may be used alone or as a mixture. The amounts of these materials, based on the weight of the electrode,

are:

1. 4 8 percent potash felspar and/or soda felspar and/or lime felspar, of 4 8 percent of fused potassium v silicate and/or sodium silicate.

Overall Range I Preferred Range Aluminum 0.2-0.85 0.3-0.5 Silicon 0.05 0.5 0.25- 0.35 Manganese 0.3 1.5 0.8 1.0 Titanium 0.02- 0.4 0.05- 0.1 Sulphur 0.035 max. 0.01- 0.02 Phosphorus 0.035 max. 0.01- 0.02 lron (apart from incidental impurities) balance balance The weld metal obtained has an ultimate tensile strength of 28 36 tons per square inch, an elongation of 21 35 percent, a reduction of area of 35 75 percent and a Charpy impact strength as specified above.

The following are examples of two typical electrodes of this category,the proportions being by weight of the electrode:

Aluminum Manganese Silicon Titanium Sulphur Phosporus K,CO

Na F

Li F Li,CO,

Cs F

KiliF, 0.25 0.35 Potash Felspar 3.0 4.0 Soda Felspar 3.0 2.0 Magnetic 1 iron oxide 0.6 0.3 Ca CO, 1.0 Ca Si 0, 1.5 lron balance balance CATEGORY 2' Electrodes of this category deposit weld metal of the following percentage composition by weight Overall Range Preferred Range Aluminum 0.2 0.9 50.5 0.75 Silicon 0.35 max. 0.2 max. Manganese 0.3 1.25 0.7 1.0 Titanium 0.25 max. I 0.15 max. Sulphur, 0.04 max. 0.025 max. Phosphorus 0.04 inax. v 0.025 max. Carbon 0.04 0.15 0.08 0.13 Iron (apart from 1 incidental v impurities 7 balance balance The electrodes contain aluminum in" the core, of which about half is recovered in the weld metal the remainder being oxidized to aluminum oxide which forms a slag. I

The aluminum oxide presents a problem in that it interferes seriously with the deposition of the weld metal, tending to form irregular slag globules of high melting point which spoil the appearance of the weld and cause excessive undercut or sharp notches at the toes-of the weld, which may seriously reduce the effective strength of a welded fabrication. The surface tension of the mo]- ten metal is affected and weld appearance deteriorates. A high spatter loss is associated with this condition.

The harmful effect of the aluminum oxide is counteracted by the inclusion of fluorides in the core of the electrode.'When fluorides are present in the'amount indicated below, the aluminum oxide dissolves in the liquid fluoride to form an acceptable slag. It is also highly desirable that the electrode should include a small amount of ferrotitanium with a view to eliminating, entirely or almost entirely, porosity in the weld deposit. The fluoride content includes calciurn fluoride or cryolite but may also contain potassium titanofluoride or sodium fluoride.

The following is the overall compositionof theelectrode in percentages by weight:

Titanium as ferrotitanium 0 1% max. Manganese 0 8 1.5% Potassium carbonate 0 0.2% Sodium or potassium silicate 0 0.3% Fluorides, 1 7 5.5% a

at least 1.7% of the fluoride content being calcium fluoride or cryolite Titanium oxide as titanates or minerals 0.25% max. Aluminum 1.2 2.6% Silicon, other than in silicates and ferroalloys 0.03% max. Iron as sheath 60 v balance iron as powder or ferro-alloys The ferrotitanium preferably contains 25% The manganese includes manganese in'the' sheath (e.g..

0.4%) plus ferromanganese in the core, which E perimechanical properties and weld'deposits. v Y p p v EXAMPLES o coRE COMPOSITION IN I v PERCENT BY WEIGHT QF ELECTRODE.

composition of the resulting mental I I I i No. .403A 403, 405 408 404 411 .Ferroti- I 1 c q p tanium (25%T i)0:25% 0.30% 0.30% 0.25% 0.30% 0.2% Ferro- Y manganese 0.73% 0.73% 0.73% 0.60% 0.70% 0.60% K CO'; 0.07% I 0.07% 0.14% 0.14% 0.07% I 0.17% Fused 1 I sodium silicate 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% I 0.26% Rutile I I. sand 0.2% y 0.2% g 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% CaF: 2.2% 3.5%" 3.3% 2.7% 3.3% Na AlF "2.5% I K,TiF 3 0.07%. 0.07% 0.1% NaF I I 0.1% Aluminum 3 i I (wire) 1.75% 175% 1.75% 1.75% 1.75% 1.75% Iron I 1 I 7 powder I (lowC) 15.149" 4.9% 13.3% 13.5% 14.0% 13.3%

The above noted constituents were contained in'the core of the electrode, of which the iron sheath Examples of typical electrodes of this category will I 1 metal are retained. and indeed improved, and im- I Y now be given, these being followed by particulars of the proved arc stabilizationand easier slag removal are achieved when the core of electrodes of Category 2 contains a chloride of one or more of the metals'caesium, potassium and sodium in an amount of 0.1 +1 percent by. weight of the electrode. Similar beneficial results are obtained by the inclusion in the core of up to 1 percent by weight of the electrode of a carbonate of an alkaline earthv metal or of an alkali metal. The content of silicate of sodium or-potassium in the core may, moreover, be increased-to'0.4 percent by weight of the electrode. i V f The above-stated modifications tend to reduce the content of the incidental impurities sulphur and phosphorus in the weld metal-to a value. which is nor 7 mally below 0.016percent in the case of each'of these elements, so improving the impact resistance of the weld metal. I I

The following are the compositions. of some typical electrodes of this category. In each case the sheath of v the electrode was ofth e mild steel specified in Category 2, and the core constituted 22 percent by weight of WELD METAL COMPOSITION IN PERCENTAGES I Electrodes of this category are based on the discovery that the good impact properties. of the weld represented 80 percent by weight and was of the following composition 0.06% C, 0.4% M11, trace Si, 0.03% 'S, 0.02% P, balance Fe. I

MECHANICAL TEST RESULTS Experi-. v mental No; 403.4403 406 408 404 411 tsi (tons per square in) 251225.44 20.80 I27.04 20 20 27.2 UTStsi 31.5 31.36 29.36 32.80 28.64 28 32.6 Elongation% 24 24.3 27 23 26' 26 25 reduction 1 ofArea 51 48 49 55 45 5 Charpy ft.lbs.average of 3 specimens I at 20C .54 43 p .74. 7 .52 50 aioic 38 34 69 61 .39 35 zit-10C 29 26 58 431. "28 34 at -30C 24 20 46 v 37 22 29 the electrode. The core constituents specified below are'in percentages by weight of the electrode.

eleceleci .elecelecelecelec trode trode trode trode trode trode I i 2 3 4 s I 6 I Aluminum 1.75 1.80 1.75 1.75 1.75 2.2

Titanium 0.05 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.05 0.08

Manganese 1.0 0.9 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.93 Silicon 0.03 0.03 0.03 I 0.03 0.03 0.03 NaF 0.15 0.15 013 0.07 0.13 CaF, 3.3 3.2 3.3 3.7 3.7 2.7 Na,A1F,' 0.16 0.15 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 K, TiF 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 CaCO, 0.20 I 0.53

I K,CO, 0.10 0.10 0.7 0.07 0.10 0.6

QK TiO 0.07 0.10 0.10 'CsCl 0.10 I a KCl v 0.20 0.35 V 0.27 NaCl 0.05 Fused Silicate I 33% NaO v 0.30 0.36 I 0.27 0.27 0.27

powder ance ance' balancev balance balance balance The following are the compositions of weld deposits elecelec elecelecelec- I trode trode trode trode trode trode 1 p 2 v I 3 4 .5 6

Carbon 7 0.07% 0.075% 0.109% 0119% 0.102% 0.06% manganese 0.87% 0.93% 0.90% 090% 0.90% 1.04% Silicon (from silicate) 0.21% 0.24%. 0.19% 0.23% 0.18% 0.14% Titanium 0.13% 0.09% 0.06% 0.11% 0.11% 0.08% aluminum 0.74% 0.61% 0.62% 0.79% 0.84% 1.10% Sulphur 0.013% 0.011% 0.018% 0.018% 0.015% 0.02% Phos- 9&l 9- 2%. 0.015% 0.015% 0.015% 0.012% .phorus 7 I I lroii balance balance balance balance balance balance produced by these electrodes:

elec- The following are the mechanical propertiesof weld 0.5 percent by weight of the electrode.

The electrodes of this category are of the following composition in parts by weight of the electrode:

' Overall range Preferred range 'Carbon 0.3% max. 2% max I Aluminum 1.5 to'3.5% 2 to 2.8% Manganese 0 3 to 1.6% 0 5 to 1.0% Silicon 0 to 0.6% 0 2 to 0.3% Fluorides I 8 to 16% 10 to Carbonates 1 to 6% 2.5 to 3.5% I Slag balancers O to 4% 0.2 to'1.0%

lron (apart from incidental I I impurities) Balance Balance The ratio by weight of fluorides to carbonates'is 3.2-6 and preferably 4.2 4.7. The aluminum may be jelegrqde electrode electrode electrode I Yield Pointt.s.i. 25.48 24.83 f 23.76 26.4

U.T.S. t.s.i. 31.4 33.64 31.92 31.04 Elongation I 26.2 23.7 22.5 25 Reduction of Area 45 44 40 62, Charpy V at C 93 Charpy V-at 0C I 61.5 55 57.3 I Charpy.V at-20C 46, l 59 53 I I 57 CATEGORY 4 ceptable. Silico-manganese typically contains 60 percent silicon and 40 percentmanganese.

Silicon is derived chiefly from the core being present, for example, as a ferro-alloy or as silico-manganese but 'a small amount, for example 0.02 percent, of silicon may be present in the sheath.

.The fluoride content of the electrode is such that the electrode contains at least 8 percent of calcium fluoride. When, however, the amount of calcium fluoride substantially exceeds this figure part can be replaced by cryolite. The carbonates are selected from barium, calcium, strontium or magnesium carbonate, but potassium carbonate may be used in an amount of up to 2 percent by weight of the total content of carbonates.

The slag balancers, which control the fluidity of the slag by stiffening it, are selected from alumina, silica, titania and zirconia and may be present as these oxides or as compounds of these.oxides such as potassium titanate, sodium silicate or felspar. A small quantity of slag balancer may be helpful in giving exactly the degree of slag follow-up necessary. We prefer to use alumina but the other slag balancersare adequate but must not be used insufficient quantityto give a significant alloying recovery into the weld metal due to reduction by aluminum. To ensure that the titanium content of the weld metal does not exceed the abovestated amount and that zirconium is not present in the weld metal otherwise than as an incidental impurity,

the amount of titania and/or zirconia should not. exceed Iron is derived from the sheath, ferro-alloys and iron powder in the core. There is no objection to the use of iron powder containing significant amounts of carbon providing the amount of carbon does not exceed the ble.

above stated maximum. This is to ensure that carbon recovery into the weld metal doesnot exceed the limit stated below.

The electrodes of this category are intended primarily for welding in the horizontal and flat positionsand give weld deposits of good shape with fine ripple'marking, a good. wash-out at the toes of the weld and weld metal of high ductility and good impact strength. The electrodes are easy to use, require no special degree of concentration on thepartof theoperator'and hence reduce operating fatigue. The deposition rate of weld metal from the electrodes is high and hence the electrode assists in rapid welding and fabrication The flag follow-up is good and the weld .pool is easily observa- The electrodes may contain ;iron powder in an am ountof up to 35percent by weight of the electrode.

When iron powder is present in the core,'the core should constitute at least 20 percent by weight of the electrode in order to ensure a fast deposition rate and the core may amount to as much as 48 percent by weight of the electrode. Theyrange of v24 35' percent by weight of core to electrode is preferred; When the core contains no iron powder it is, of course, lighter and in this case theratio by weight of core to electrode may be 14 20 percent and is preferably 16 18 percent.

The weld metal deposited by electrodes of this category is as follows:

Overall range Preferred range Carbon 0.13% max.

0.11% max. Aluminum 0.25 1.0% 0.45 0.8% Manganese 0.4 1.8% 0.6 1.2% Silicon 0.5% max. 0.2 0.4%

' Titanium 0.12% max. 0.1% max Sulphur 0.03% max. 0.02% max Phosphorus 0.03% max. 0.02% max iron I balance balance lows, the compositions being expressed in percentages by weight of the core:

Aluminum Powder 8 9 8 8 9 l0 9 6 l Ferromanganese 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 Ferrosilicon 2 l 2 2 1.5 1.5 l 2.5 Calcium Fluoride 40 48 52 35 30 25 l8 l6 6 Silica I l 1 1 v Alumina l 0.5 36 l l l 1 2 Cryolite l5 lron Powder 38 27.5 22% 24 48.5 54 64 69 Calcium Carbonate 6 4 6 3 3 4 4 3% l2 Magnesium Carbonate 2 7 5 9 4 1.5 2 Care as percentage I I by weight of the I I electrode 28 25 25 25 32 33 36 43 15 Yield point t.s.i. 26.2 U.T.S.t.s.i. 33.7

Elongation 21 R.ofA.% g .47 Charpy ft. lbs. at 20C ,v 45 (average of three specimens) CATEGORY s These electrodes includein' some instances man ganese oxide in thecore and sufficient aluminum to reduce the oxide to manganese which is recovered, as

' such, in, the 'weld metal. The core. constitutes 30-33 7 percent by weight of the electrodeand the core is of the followin'gcornpositionby weight:

the total amount of manganese oxide, iron oxide and silica being at least 20 percent and the. total amount of carbonates and fluorides being at least 15 percent.

The manganese oxide maybe MnO Mn O or Mn0.- The carbonates content may becalcium carbonate, barium carbonate, strontium carbonate or magnesium carbonate. The silica may be present in the corev as such, or in mineral form, e.g., as felspar or wollastonite.

The fluoride content consists of calcium fluoride, with or without minor additions of cryolite, potassium silieofluoride, sodium fluorideand/orpotassium fluoride.

The following are examples of core compositions'of typical electrodes of this category:

, lron Powder 30 30 30 22 30' Aluminum Powder' 1212 1213 12''" MnO: a 7 I3 11 8 7 Magnetite 10 10- 10 ll 10 Silica 7 l1 3 8 7 K,TiO 4 4 4 4 4 CaCO, 5 5 5 .6 5 Ca F, 25 25 25 18 22' NaF 10 3 Theweld metal compositions obtained with these electrodes were as follows:

Titanium 0.05%v 0.05% 0.05% 0.06% 0.06% Aluminum 0.40% 0.30% 0.41% 0.41% 0.47% Manganese 1.35%- a 0.70% 1.85% 1.31% 1.34% Silicon 0.51% 0.70% 028% 0.45% 0.53% Carbon 0.06%

Iron the balance, apart from incidental impurities. The mechanical properties of weld metal obtained from these electrodes were as follows:

v3.1.5.1. 23.4 20.2 21.4 24 25 U.T.S. 1.5. 32.6 31.5 31.4 32 33.9

Elongation on 2 inch g r gauge length 23 V 26 .19 1921 Reduction'of Area 4O 45 35 30 30 Charpy ft.lbs. at C (Average of 3 specimens) "58". 41 45 47 62 Charpy lt.lbs. at 30C (Average of3 d 'specimens) rentrespectively. When electrodes according Certain further electrodes according to the invention and the conditions to'be observed duringuse of these electrodes-will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a transformer circuit, and

FIGS. 2 and; 3 are graphs illustrating conditions of electrode operation with D.C. and A.C. welding curused with A .C.- current at a current density of20',000 l00,000 amperes per sq.in., they should have a diameter in the range of 0.03 0.14 inch and be of thefollowing composition in parts by weight of theelectrode:

Overall Range f Preferred Range Aluminum 1.5 to 4.5% 2 to 2.8% Manganese 0.3 tol.6% 0.5 to 1% Silicon 0 to 0.6% 0.25% max. Calcium fluoride 5 to 15% 10 to 13% Arc stabilizers l to 8% 2 to 3.5% Slag modifiers 1 t to 4% l to 4% Iron and incidental balance balance impurities While the fluoride constituent is specified as calcium fluoride it may" contain minor amounts of other fluorides such as sodium fluoride or cryolite'.

'The arc stabilizers in the: above table are oxides of magnesium, alkali-metals; or alkaline earth metals,

which-may be present as such or as compounds, such as carbonates, titanates or silicates, which will decompose to yield these'oxides at thetemperature of the arc. The amount of fluoride plusarc stabilizers must amount to at least 5.5 percent by weight of the electrode. The slag modifiers in the above table arealumina, silica, titania and/or 'zir'conia', as such' or as compounds which will decompose to yield these oxides, with the proviso that the amount of titania and/or zirconia must not exceed 0.5 percent by weight of the electrode.

Calcium and magnesium carbonates are effective are stabilizers but suitable alternatives are carbonates of strontium, barium, lithium, caesium, rubidium, sodium and potassium. lron powder in the core of the electrode assists in arc stabilization and should. preferably be present in an amount of not less than 6 percent by weight of the electrode.- Thereis no objection to the use of grades of iron powderc'ontaining up to 0.3 percent by weight of carbon. As already noted, are stabilizing elements may be present as carbonates or oxides or other compounds which will yield oxides at are temperatures. I r g The above described slag modifiers may be replaced by an oxideof manganese and/or iron, which also-tends to stabilize, the arc, but in this casethe electrode will contain more aluminum to ensure oxidation to metal of said oxide and the preferred range of aluminum conto the invention are to be tent will be 2.5 4.5 percent. In this case the content of manganese oxide must not exceed 3 percent but the content of iron oxide may be as high as 4 percent.

Electrodes as just describeddeposit ductile, tough weld metal containing 0.4 1.6 percent manganese,j0.2 1 percent aluminum, 0.5 percent max. silicon, 0.15 percent max. titanium zirconium, balance iron apart from incidental impurities'Preferably the weld metal is of the following composition: carbon 0.11 percent max., aluminum 0.45 0.8 percent, manganese 0.6 1.1 percent, silicon 0.2 0.4 percent, titanium 0.1 percent. sulphur 0.03 percent max., phosphorus 0.03 percent max., iron the balance. r I

, The A.C. power source may be of any conventional type and good results may be obtainedby the use of conventional transformers primarily designed for welding with manual electrodes. Thus the power may be derived from the mains through a transformer or may be provided by a suitable A.C. generator. It may be single phase, three phase or derived from two phases or between line and neutral of a three phase supply. The load characteristic of the transformer may be of the drooping, sloping or level'type.

A typical transformer circuit is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, in which L L represent the A.C. supply terminals, T represents a transformer, l representsan inductance and T T are terminals for connection to the work and to the electrode respectively.

' In a conventional circuit for manual arc welding, using a 250 volt A.C. supply, the transformer T is designed to give an open circuit voltage of 80 volts and the inductance lhas a value of 0.5 millihenries. For use in accordance with the present invention the transformer may be designed to give an open circuit voltage of 30-60 volts and the circuit so arranged as to cause the voltage to drop to 25 40 volts when the arc is struck and the characteristic to be substantially level, the voltage drop being within the range of 0 0.1 volts per ampere and preferably 0.008 0.06 volts per ampere.

The following are examples of typical electrodes for use under the above-described A.C. current conditions:

In each casethe diameter of the electrode is 0.094

inch, the sheath is of rimming quality mild steel containing 0.06% C, 0.5% Mn, 0.03% S, 0.03% P, balance iron; the core constitutes 30% by weight of the electrode and the composition is as follows in percentage ance As will be apparent from the foregoing, the electrodes to be used in accordance with the invention consist of a mild steel sheath enclosing a core containing nitrogen fixing and deoxidizing elements and can successfully be used without'shielding because these ele-' ments' remove, or at least nullify, the harmful effects of atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen which enter the weld pool and which, but for the effect of deoxidizers and nitrogen fixers, would cause avery severe loss of impact strength and ductility. It is essential, in orderto secure weld metal as specified above, that some amounts of aluminum, manganese and silicon are recovered into the weld metal but the extend of recovery varies according to the following factors:

1. The arc' length has a major effect on alloy recovery, a long are tending to lose by atmospheric reaction much of the alloying elements present in the electrode and a short are assisting their recovery.

' undesirably reduce its ductility. v

It is accordingly highly desirable to operate the electrodes under'conditions such that V 1.9 A at when A.C. welding current is used and V 1.1 A y when D.C. welding current is used; V being the arc voltage, A

. being the current density expressed as l/ 1,000 dd,

where c is the welding current in'am'peres and d is the diameter of the electrode in inches, x being between 18 and 29 and y being between 19 and 30.

Operation thus takes place in the regions between the lines A and B in FIG. 2 and between the lines C and Din FIG. 3 of the drawings, in which are voltage is plotted as ordinates and current densityas abscisscae. These lines are as follows: I

LineA V=l.9A+29 LineB V=l.9A+l8 LineC V=l.lA+30 LineD V=l.1A+19 1f operation takes place above the line A or C the weld metal tends to exhibitporosity while if operation takes place below the line B or D the weld metal tends to exhibit a loss of ductility and impact strength.

Satisfactory weld metal can be secured by compliance with these operating conditions using a tubular electrode having within its mild steel sheath a core containing 0.8 4.5 percent aluminum, 0 0.6 percent silicon, .0 0.3 percent titanium and 0.3 1.6 percent manganese based on the weightof the electrode.

The following are the results of tests showing the effect of working under-different conditions with a DC. supply on the electrode identified as No. 1 in Category 5 above:

1. A continuous tubular arc welding electrode having a diameter of 0.03 0.l4 inch andcomprisinga mild' steel sheath devoid of external flux which encloses a 7 core of the following composition in percentages by weight of the electrode:

aluminium manganese silicon I calcium fluoride, with or without minor additions of other fluorides arc stabilizers, constituted by.oxides of magnesium, alkali metals or alkaline earth metals present as such or as com ounds slag modi iers, selected from alumina, silica, titania, manganese oxide, iron oxide and zirconia present as such the amount of titania and zirconia,

or as compounds ,1 4% iron andincidental impurities v balance when present, not

' exceeding 0.5 percent by weight of the electrode, said electrode depositing, when energized fwith A.C. at a current density of 20,000 120,000 amperes per sq.- in. I without external shielding of the arc weldmetal having an elongation of at least 18 percent, a reduction of area of at least percent, and a Charpy impact strength of at least ft/lbs. at20 C and'at least 20 ft/lbs. at -'30? C when tested in accordance'with the mechanical test procedure given in 8.8.8. 639, 1964-.

2. An electrode as claimed in claim I, which contains 2 2.8 percent aluminum, 2 3.5 percent are stabilizers..

-3. An electrode as claimed in Claim 1 which contains 2.5 4.5 percent aluminum, and 2 3.5 percent I arc stabilizers and in which the slag modifier content consists of an oxide selected from manganese andiron oxides, the content of manganese oxide not exceeding 3 percent and the content of iron oxide not exceeding 4 percent. i V

4. An electrode as claimed in claim 1, in which the core contains iron powder in an amount of at least 6 percent by weight of the electrode. 

2. An electrode as claimed in claim 1, which contains 2 - 2.8 percent aluminum, 2 - 3.5 percent arc stabilizers.
 3. An electrode as claimed in Claim 1, which contains 2.5 - 4.5 percent aluminum, and 2 - 3.5 percent arc stabilizers and in which the slag modifier content consists of an oxide selected from manganese and iron oxides, the content of manganese oxide not exceeding 3 percent and the content of iron oxide not exceeding 4 percent.
 4. An electrode as claimed in claim 1, in which the core contains iron powder in an amount of at least 6 percent by weight of the electrode. 